SCR's 'God's Heart' Premiere Canceled

COSTA MESA — South Coast Repertory has canceled plans to present the world premiere of Craig Lucas' "God's Heart" next spring because Lucas will be working on the film of another of his plays, SCR officials announced Thursday.

New York playwright Lucas and collaborator Norman Rene, who was to have directed "God's Heart" at SCR, will be tied up filming Lucas' "Reckless," which Rene will direct, SCR officials said. Lucas, who carries the title of SCR associate artist, penned two other major plays given their world premieres at SCR: "Three Postcards" and "Prelude to a Kiss."

To fill the gap, Moliere's frequently staged "The Misanthrope" has been added to the Mainstage season and a play to be announced will take the spring slot that had been reserved for "God's Heart."

The loss of the Lucas premiere makes SCR's revival-heavy Mainstage season even heavier, with "The Misanthrope" joining Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire," Noel Coward's "Blithe Spirit" and Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard."

The only new work currently scheduled for the Mainstage is Orange County playwright Cecilia Fannon's "Green Icebergs," to be staged beginning in October.

Rescheduling "God's Heart" in the current season "was considered," according to a prepared statement the company issued Thursday. "But, due to filming and post-production (of 'Reckless,') and commitments by SCR to other artists," no alternative date could be scheduled.

Still, "a future production of "God's Heart" (is) a strong possibility," SCR producing-artistic director David Emmes said in the statement.

"God's Heart" was to have been presented after its SCR premiere by New York's Lincoln Center Theater Group, which was instrumental in developing it. According to a Lincoln Center company spokeswoman, the theater now has "no plans" to present it.

The play, however, is "certainly under consideration" at the Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, R.I., a spokeswoman there said Thursday, although no final decision has been made. The play would be presented in the latter half of Trinity's 1994-95 season, which has not been finalized, the spokeswoman said.

"The Misanthrope," scheduled for Jan. 6 to Feb. 12, will be directed by SCR associate artist David Chambers, who staged SCR's production of Moliere's "The Miser" two seasons ago, officials said.